The performance artist recreates a 1978 performance piece ‘through the lens of the 2014 FIFA World Cup’

World-famous performance artist, professional chair-sitter and doer of nothing Marina Abramović has just released her latest work, a short film made with Adidas to commemorate the World Cup.

As the description in the arty black-and-white video is a restaging of a 1978 performance piece with former partner Ulay, as "reimagined through the lens of the 2014 FIFA World Cup". Decked out in white robes and Adidas trainers, the 11 performers – the same number as those in a football team, geddit? – try to transport piles of rocks across the room. The group of performers that work together, passing the rocks down a human chain, eventually triumphs over those who pair up or try to go at it alone.

"When Ulay and me originally did this performance in 1978, we found that the first group to give up is the relationship – the two people sharing the bucket," the Serbian artist explains in a voiceover. "The next to give up are the two individuals. The chain is the most efficient message. The chain has the most endurance. The chain stays forever."

Unless you're Brazil, of course, in which case your chain most definitelyfalls apart.